Zebraman

Takashi Miike
2004

It's only natural that somewhere in crazy old Takashi Miike's bajillion picture filmography that there would be a superhero yarn somewhere in the mix. "Zebraman" centers on a mediocre school teacher who avoids the disappointment of humdrum family life through crafting an elaborate facsimile costume of his favorite superhero (from a long forgotten canceled television show), but soon he finds that fantasy becomes reality as monstrous villains and gelatinous green aliens siege Japan. He all too gladly takes up the mantle of national protector: Zebraman. This is another example of a phenomenon I've only seen in Japanese movies, where cheap and crappy computer effects are used for good instead of evil. Whereas lousy CG is usually employed sheepishly in most films to cost-effectively enhance some version of reality (snow, a giant rampaging alligator), Miike embraces the inherent cartoonyness of bad animation to the benefit of his silly madcap stories. Another example of Miike's effective use of low budget CG can be seen in the excellent "The Great Yokai War" (2005). "Zebraman" also exhibits an interesting interplay between ironic schmaltz and genuinely clever touches. On one hand you have the doe-eyed moppet in a wheelchair giving a thumbs up to the hero, yet the logic and rationale for the hero's existence is a brilliantly postmodern and self-reflexive piece of scripting.